SLGA County Centenary Lunch

The Salutation Hotel in Perth was the venue for the SLGA County Centenary Lunch today (Saturday 7th March).

The dining room was packed as 211 past and present County Officials and County Team members congregated to celebrate the centenary of Scottish County Golf.

Many people had arrive early to catch up with old friends, and by the time the Counties were asked to take their seats, the noise was deafening.

Nine Counties are celebrating their centenaries this year... Angus, Ayrshire, Dumbartonshire and Argyll, Fife, Lanarkshire, Midlothian, Perth and Kinross, Renfrewshire and Stirlingshire & Clackmannan. Aberdeenshire (founded 1911), East Lothian (1924), Northern Counties (1967), Borders (1973), Dumfrieshire (1973) and Galloway (1973) have celebrations still to come.

Mrs Margaret Duncanson, who retired in 1997 as the last Secretary of the Scottish Ladies County Golf Association, cut the cake, and Mrs Ethel Jack, President of SLGA Ltd gave a very appropriate golfing grace.

After the meal, Gillian Kirkwood (!) gave the assembled company a talk on the History of Scottish County Golf over the last 100 years, and everyone rose to their feet to toast Scottish County Golf and the next 100 years.

Mrs Helen Faulds, past Captain of D&A gave a very entertaining Vote of Thanks.

SLGA Centenary Lunch

My thanks to Carol Fell, the Renfrewshire and West of Scotland Webmaster, for providing the photographs for this story. The rest of the photographs can be found on her Picasa site if you click on the cake above. [Thanks Carol... don't know what we would do without you!]

Carol also took a video of Helen Fauld's Vote of Thanks



Some people have asked for my speech to be put up on the web. SpeechforCountyCentenarylunch.pdf

Last-hole double bogey knocks

back Kirsty O'Connor in Arizona

Welsh champion Kirsty O'Connor (Ball State University) from Lancashire) posted a first-round 75, which included a double bogey 7 at the long 18th in the first round of The Duramed Collegiate @ Rio Verde, Arizona.
Kirsty, tied eighth, birdied the third and the 17th but also had single bogeys at the sixth, 10th, 13th and 15th.
Ami Storey (Kansas State), pictured, from Ponteland in the North-east of England had no birdies and six bogeys in her round of 77 over the Quail Run par-71, 6260yd course. She was in joint 27th place going into the second round.
Stacey Rodgers (Missouri State) from Sussex had two double bogeys and a birdie at the 16th in her round of 81.
Kalynd Carons (Kansas State) and Michele Hui (Toledo) shared the lead on one-over-72.
There are 102 players in the field.
JACK HILUTA IN TOP TEN
England boy cap Jack Hiluta from Chelmsford, a freshman student at South Alabama University, was in joint ninth place after a three-under-par opening round of 69 in the Ron Smith USF Invitational college tournament at Lake Jovita Country Club, Dade City, Florida.
Riley Wheeldon (Louisville) set the pace with a 66.
Alan Glynn (Xavier) from Middlesex was sharing 48th place in a field of 120 with a 73.

Katherine has got that sweet smell

of success again in Singapore

Katherine Hull has picked up the scent of victory again, only four weeks or so since she won the Australian Ladies Masters.
This time the Australian surged into a two-stroke lead at 11-under-par 205 after 54 holes of the HSBC Women's Champions tournament at the Tana Merah Country Club, Singapore on the back of an assault that included seven birdies in a six-under-par 66. She leads by two from American Angela Stanford.
Play was suspended at one stage for 2hr 19min because of lighting and heavy rain but nothing was going to stop Katherine Hull in this mood..
"I'm liking the fact I have a two-shot lead, and I'm confident in how I'm playing," Hull said. "So game on."
Sun Young Yoo (68) is in third place, a stroke behind Stanford and a shot ahead of Korean compatriot Mi Hyun Kim (70), with second round co-leader American Paula Creamer (72) five strokes off the lead.
Understandably, Creamer was disappointed with her round.
"I didn't hit it very well and didn't putt well at all. I didn't have any speed or anything that got any momentum going," Creamer said. "Hopefully, I can start off well and then maybe make (Hull) nervous and try and put some pressure on the leaderboard."
Stanford shot a bogey-free 66 to move into position for her fourth victory in her last nine starts. The sixth-ranked Texan won the season-opening SBS Open in Hawaii after closing last season with two victories in her final six events. In addition to the three wins, she has five other top-seven finishes in her last eight tournaments.
Stanford got her sixth birdie of the round at the 16th to move into a tie for the lead with Hull at nine under par overall. But Hull made birdies on Nos 16 and 18 with accurate approach shots. She hit a wedge to 7 feet on No. 16 and hit a 5-iron to 4 feet on the par 4, 414yd 18th hole.
Hull could win her second LPGA Tour event Sunday. She won the Canadian Women's Open last summer.
"I probably won't watch the leaderboard a whole lot tomorrow," Hull said. "I'm probably going to go out there wanting to think about my golf game. The things that worked for me in the past. I just want to treat it as another day in the office and go out there and do my best."
Top-ranked Lorena Ochoa, the defending champion coming off her 25th LPGA Tour victory last week in Thailand, shot a 69 to top a group six shots off the lead. Hall of Famer Juli Inkster (69), fifth-ranked Jiyai Shin (66), Amy Yang (69) and Jane Park also were 5 under.
"I want to win and I believe it's possible so I need to be more aggressive tomorrow, get some birdies early and hopefully continue the momentum," Ochoa said.
Karen Stupples is the leading British player, nine shots off the pace on 214.
Laura Davies is still nearer the end of the field than the top of it after rounds of 81, 77 and 72 for 230.
THIRD ROUND SCOREBOARD
Par 216 (3 x 72)
205 Katherine Hull (Aus) 70 69 66
207 Angela Stanford 69 72 66
208 Sun Young Yoo (Kor) 71 69 68
209 Mi-Hyun Kim (Kor) 71 68 70
210 Paula Creamer 67 71 72
211 Jane Park 67 71 73, Ji-Yai Shin (Kor) 72 73 66, Juli Inkster 72 70 69, Amy Yang 73 69 69, Lorena Ochoa (Mex) 69 73 69
212 Ai Miyazato (Jpn) 68 72 72, Ya-Ni Tseng (Kor) 72 71 69, Eun Hee Ji (Kor) 69 73 70, Angela Park (Bra) 67 76 69
213 Lindsey Wright (Aus) 72 69 72, Se Ri Pak (Kor) 69 72 72, Meena Lee (Kor) 72 70 71, Suzann Pettersen (Nor) 72 70 71
214 Karen Stupples (Eng) 73 74 67, Cristie Kerr 73 71 70
215 Anja Monke (Ger) 73 70 72, Seon Hwa Lee (Kor) 68 74 73, Jimin Kang (Kor) 72 73 70, Momoko Ueda (Jpn) 71 73 71, Kristy McPherson 72 71 72
216 Giulia Sergas (Ita) 77 71 68, Karrie Webb (Aus) 74 69 73, Song-Hee Kim (Kor) 72 70 74, Michele Redman 70 72 74
217 H J Choi (Kor) 72 74 71, Ji-Hee Lee (Jpn) 73 72 72, Hee Young Park (Kor) 72 72 73
218 Jee Young Lee (Kor) 73 74 71, Heather Young 70 76 72, Na Yeon Choi (Kor) 74 72 72, Catriona Matthew (Sco) 72 73 73, Hee-Won Han (Kor) 73 72 73, Candie Kung (Tai) 74 77 67
219 In Kyung Kim (Kor) 71 74 74, Helen Alfredsson (Swe) 77 73 69, Christina Kim 73 73 73, Brittany Lang 71 74 74, Gwladys Nocera (Fra) 69 74 76, Natalie Gulbis 70 73 76, Teresa Lu (Tai) 72 74 73, Shanshan Feng (Chn) 70 71 78
220 Stacy Prammanasudh 73 76 71, Russy Gulyanamitta (Tha) 72 72 76, Carin Koch (Swe) 71 77 72, Morgan Pressel 73 75 72, Laura Diaz 75 73 72, Sandra Gal (Ger) 73 76 71
221 Minea Blomqvist (Fin) 73 75 73, Ji-Young Oh (Kor) 71 75 75, Pornanong Phatlum (Tha) 75 73 73, Louise Friberg (Swe) 71 76 74, Janice Moodie (Sco) 74 74 73
222 Jin Joo Hong (Kor) 76 71 75, Alena Sharp (Can) 72 72 78, Sophie Gustafson (Swe) 72 79 71, Wendy Ward 73 74 75, Katie Futcher 72 77 73
223 Ashleigh Simon (Rsa) 80 71 72, Il Mi Chung (Kor) 71 76 76
224 Rachel Hetherington (Aus) 77 73 74, Young Kim (Kor) 76 74 74
225 Shiho Oyama (Jpn) 72 77 76, In-Bee Park (Kor) 74 77 74
226 Nicole Castrale 77 78 71, Leta Lindley 73 80 73
227 Becky Morgan (Wal) 79 75 73
229 Pat Hurst 76 79 74
230 Laura Davies (Eng) 81 77 72, Diana D'Alessio 81 77 72
231 Allison Fouch 82 76 73, Jill McGill 82 72 77
234 Vicky Hurst 79 84 71
237 Poh Joey (Sin) 78 83 76

On the trail of multi-club champions, male or female!

We are running a story on http://www.scottishgolfview.com/ to see if we can find out which player has won his club championship the most times in a row. It started out as a men's title query but it has since widened to include women.
If you know of someone who has won his or her club championship a lot of times in a row, E-mail Colin@scottishgolfview.com with the details.

Here's a note on the subject from Scotland international golfer, Bryan Fotheringham of Forres:

Hi Colin, If my memory serves me right there is a man or woman at Kingussie Golf Club that has won their club championship near 20 times or more! I am remembering this from a BOYS' district match there so you can do the maths on how long ago that was!! Hope this helps your story!!
Regards
Bryan Fotheringham

English girls have given

Western Texas College a

big boost on US circuit


Katie Mundy's "arrival" at Western Texas College, based at the town/city of Snyder, Texas,
prompted Kirkwoodgolf.co.uk to have a look at the college's girls' golf roster - only to find that there were already TWO other English female golfers at the college at the start of the 2008-2009 college golf season: Julia Norman, below left, a freshman from Devon, and Lauren Smith, above right, another freshman, this time from Northumberland.
Both Lauren and Julia did very well in the first half of the 2008-2009 college golf season.
Julia won an event in mid-September with rounds of 79 and 77. Lauren Smith finished third in the same event with a pair of 79s.
In the "Lady Crusader" from October 5 to 7, Lauren Smith was runner-up with a total of 155 and Julia Norman was third on 157.
And in the Tyler Junior Collegiate from October 19 to 21, Lauren Smith was the winner with rounds of 80 and 70 for 150 - and Julie Newman was second on 153 with scores of 79 and 74.
After the mid-winter break, Lauren Smith with scores of 86 and 79 for 165, finished fourth behind 12-stroke winner and new Western Texas College team-mate Katie Mundy (77-75).
Lauren Smith (158) finished joint second and Katie Mundy (161) joint seventh in the "Mary Hardin."
Lauren also tied for sixth place on 167 (82-85) in the Schreiner Spring Shootout won by five shots by Katie Mundy (75-75).
Julia Norman, by all accounts, has come home and Katie Mundy is a straight replacement for her on the Western Texas College golf roster.

Katie Mundy's stunning start

on US junior college circuit

PRESS RELEASE ISSUED BY ENGLISH WOMEN'S GOLF ASSOCIATION
England girl international Katie Mundy has made a great debut on the US women’s college circuit with two wins from three tournaments.
The 18-year-old from Dunwood Manor in Hampshire, pictured left by leaderboardphotography.com, joined Western Texas College earlier this term and has got off to a stunning start in junior college 36-hole events. She won her first competition, the Schreiner Spring Shootout, by six shots; she was seventh in her second tournament, the UMHB Lady Cru Spring Invitational; and now she’s won the TJC Women’s Intercollegiate by 10 shots.
Katie’s play has also twice helped her college side to victory in the team event. On the other occasion they were runners-up.
Katie was in England’s winning team at the 2008 girls’ Home Internationals at Panmure and has been a member of English Women’s Golf Association squads.
Leighton Buzzard’s Lizi Sweetnam has had two top-10 finishes since starting at Seminole State College, Oklahoma in January. She was eighth in the Lions Classic in Arkansas, while her team finished third overall. Lizi followed up with fifth place in the TJC Intercollegiate and her team were again third.
Elsewhere, Andrea Downer from Bramley, Surrey, was third of 42 players in the NewWave Communications event at Miller Memorial Golf Club, in Kentucky. Andrea is a student at Murray State University which won the team prize by 15 shots.
Buckinghamshire’s Clara Leathers (Middle Tennessee State University), was the leading British student at the Lady Jaguar Invitational at Azalea City Golf Club in Alabama. Clara, from Ellesborough, was joint 19th in a field of 83 while Portia Abbott, from Kingsdown, Wiltshire, was 26th and her Jacksonville State team-mate Laura Cutler, from Warley in Essex, was 35th.

SLGA extend inter-club foursomes deadline to March 23

The SLGA has extended the closing date for entries to the new Scottish Ladies inter-club match-play foursomes to Monday, March 23 at 12 noon.

Jodi wins another US Golfer of the Month award

PRESS RELEASE ISSUED BY THE ENGLISH WOMEN'S GOLF ASSOCIATION
England international Jodi Ewart has won a Golfer of the Month award for her performances on the US women’s college circuit.
Jodi, 21, has just notched up her fourth individual US title since becoming a student at the University of New Mexico. Her play has won her the February monthly award from the Mountain West Conference.
She also currently ranks first in the conference for her stroke average of 72 and 16th nationally in US women’s college golf.
Jodi, whose home club is Catterick in Yorkshire, also won this monthly award in September. She has been English stroke-play champion for the past two years, played in the 2008 Curtis Cup and was sixth individually in last year’s Women’s world amateur team championship.
Lyndsey Hewison
Press & PR Officer

Do you know the way to San Jose? You don't

want to if it rains enough to wash out event

The weather is not always great in California ... this week's Juli Inkster Spartan Invitational women's college tournament at Almaden Country Club, San Jose was eventually abandoned with only six holes completed on the opening morning.
The suspension took place because of rain on Monday when 36 holes should have been completed.
It was hoped to resume a curtailed tournament on the Tuesday but further rain plus the waterlogged state of the course ruled out any resumption and, at noon, the organisers had no choice but to abandon the event which featured most of the leading West Coast women's teams.
British women's open amateur champion Roseanne Niven (California-Berkeley) was in the field.
Roseanne and the rest of the Bears will be back in action - hopefully - on Friday, March 27 when they play in a tournament just added to their schedule at La Quinta Golf Course in La Quinta.

LPGA Tour Scoreboard
HSBC WOMEN'S CHAMPIONS TOURNAMENT
Tanah Merah Country Club, Garden Course, Changi, Singapore
SECOND-ROUND TOTALS
Par 144 (2 x 72)
Players from US unless stated
138 Paula Creamer 67 71, Jane Park 67 71
139 Mi-Hyun Kim (Kor) 71 68, Katherine Hull (Aus) 70 69
140 Ai Miyazato (Jpn) 68 72, Sun Young Yoo (Kor) 71 69
141 Lindsey Wright (Aus) 72 69, Se Ri Pak (Kor) 69 72, Angela Stanford 69 72, Shanshan Feng (Chn) 70 71
142 Eun Hee Ji (Kor) 69 73, Meena Lee (Kor) 72 70, Juli Inkster 72 70, Amy Yang 73 69, Lorena Ochoa (Mex) 69 73, Song-Hee Kim (Kor) 72 70, Suzann Pettersen (Nor) 72 70, Michele Redman 70 72, Seon Hwa Lee (Kor) 68 74
143 Anja Monke (Ger) 73 70, Ya-Ni Tseng (Kor) 72 71, Natalie Gulbis 70 73, Karrie Webb (Aus) 74 69, Angela Park (Bra) 67 76, Kristy McPherson 72 71, Gwladys Nocera (Fra) 69 74
144 Russy Gulyanamitta (Tha) 72 72, Momoko Ueda (Jpn) 71 73, Cristie Kerr 73 71, Alena Sharp (Can) 72 72, Hee Young Park (Kor) 72 72
145 Ji-Yai Shin (Kor) 72 73, Jimin Kang (Kor) 72 73, In Kyung Kim (Kor) 71 74, Catriona Matthew (Sco) 72 73, Hee-Won Han (Kor) 73 72, Ji-Hee Lee (Jpn) 73 72, Brittany Lang 71 74
146 Heather Young 70 76, H J Choi (Kor) 72 74, Ji-Young Oh (Kor) 71 75, Na Yeon Choi (Kor) 74 72, Teresa Lu (Tai) 72 74, Christina Kim 73 73
147 Jee Young Lee (Kor) 73 74, Karen Stupples (Eng) 73 74, Il Mi Chung (Kor) 71 76, Louise Friberg (Swe) 71 76, Jin Joo Hong (Kor) 76 71, Wendy Ward 73 74
148 Minea Blomqvist (Fin) 73 75, Giulia Sergas (Ita) 77 71, Pornanong Phatlum (Tha) 75 73, Morgan Pressel 73 75, Carin Koch (Swe) 71 77, Laura Diaz 75 73, Janice Moodie (Sco) 74 74
149 Stacy Prammanasudh 73 76, Shiho Oyama (Jpn) 72 77, Sandra Gal (Ger) 73 76, Katie Futcher 72 77
150 Rachel Hetherington (Aus) 77 73, Young Kim (Kor) 76 74, Helen Alfredsson (Swe) 77 73
151 Ashleigh Simon (Rsa) 80 71, In-Bee Park (Kor) 74 77, Sophie Gustafson (Swe) 72 79, Candie Kung (Tai) 74 77
153 Leta Lindley 73 80
154 Jill McGill 82 72, Becky Morgan (Wal) 79 75
155 Nicole Castrale 77 78, Pat Hurst 76 79
158 Allison Fouch 82 76, Laura Davies (Eng) 81 77, Diana D'Alessio 81 77
161 Poh Joey (Sin) 78 83
163 Vicky Hurst 79 84

Samantha Head wins in Florida by four

Samantha Head from Ascot today won this week's event on the SunCoast Ladies Series professional golf circuit at Zellwood Station Country Club, Florida.
Samantha covered the last four holes in three under par for a four-stroke victory with a five-under-par total of 211.
Orlando-based Samantha, whose twin sister Joanna (married name Mundy) is the leading money-winner on this women's mini-circuit, had rounds of 69, 72 and 70 to claim the $2,200 first prize after overnight leader, Beneditke Grotvedt from Norway, faded with a 76 after earlier rounds of 68 and 71.
The Norwegian tied for second place on 215 with four other players.
FINAL TOTALS
Par 216 (3 x 72). 6,100yd
211 Samantha Head (Eng) 69 72 70 ($2,200).
215 Misun Cho (South Korea) 74 71 69, M J Hur (South Korea) 69 73 73, Moira Dunn (New York State) 76 69 70, Beneditke Grotvedt (Norway) 68 71 76, Jeehae Lee (South Korea) 70 72 73 ($1,040 each).
216 Lisa Strom (US) 75 71 70 ($750).
219 Jenny Gleason (US) 76 73 70, Meredith Duncan (US) 70 78 71 ($685 each).
221 Kris Tamulis (US) 77 73 71 ($650).
222 Susan Choi (US) 77 74 71, Briana Vega (US) 74 74 74, Noon Huachai (Thailand) 76 73 73, Margaret Shirley (US) 74 74 74 ($307.50 each).
223 Brittany Lincicome (US) 73 71 79.
225 Erin Thorne (Canada) 75 74 76.
226 Jennifer Hansen (US) 78 77 71, Noriko Nakazaki (US) 75 74 77.
227 Kim Williams (US) 78 75 74, Sofie Andersson (Sweden) 77 73 77.
228 Jutta Degerman (Finland) 72 78 78.
230 Laura Bavaird (US) 81 72 77, Katie Miller (US) 75 76 79.
231 Brittainy Klein (US) 81 78 72.
232 Anna Green (US) 81 75 76, Stacey Bieber (Canada) 78 74 80.
233 Nicola Eaton (South Africa) 79 79 75.
234 Mayura Skowronski (Thailand) (amateur) 79 80 75.
235 Kelly Froelich (France) 80 75 80.
236 Tiffany Chudy (US) 79 79 78.
240 Rebecca Samuelsson (Sweden) 82 80 78, Maggie Steciuk (Canada) 81 82 77.
241 Meghan Trainor (US) 82 80 79.
243 Daria Cummings (US) (amateur) 84 76 83.
244 Carrie Morris (US) 82 79 83.
250 Daniela Diaz-Calderon (Mexico) 83 75 92.

Sinead O'Sullivan named Atlantic Sun

Conference Golfer of the Month

East Tennessee State junior (third-year) student Sinead O'Sullivan from Galway, Ireland has been named women's Atlantic Sun Conference Golfer of the Month of February following her second career individual championship win on the United States women's golf circuit.
It is the second time in her three years at the Johnson City college that she has earned the conference individual honour.
O’Sullivan became just the second ETSU female to win two individual championship medals in her career by finishing tied for first in last week's Kiawah Island Classic.

Scottish Ladies’

Golfing Association


match-play survey


Colin Farquharson writes: The Scottish Ladies Golf Association conducted a survey of the results of handicap match-play ties in ladies' club competitions the length and breadth of Scotland (and some in Northern Ireland). The survey examined whether players who were conceding or receiving strokes won more often, what effect the length of the course had on results and several other interesting aspects.
The full results of the survey, including graphs, are the copyright of the Scottish Ladies Golfing Association and can be read on the SLGA website but Kirkwoodgolf.co.uk has been given permission to use some extracts to whet your appetite. Here they are:

Introduction
During the spring of 2008 the SLGA and SGU jointly held a number of handicapping seminars for handicap secretaries and administrators to update them on changes to the CONGU® Unified Handicap System. During the presentation data from an exercise carried by the SGU based on results of men’s match-play singles was given. This showed that with a ¾ of the difference handicap allowance, on balance 65% of matches played would be won by the lower handicapped player but when full handicap difference was given the lower handicapped player would still expect to win 55% of the time.
With ladies’ handicaps extending up to 36 there is much more likelihood of lower handicapped ladies having to concede two strokes on some holes than there is in the men’s game. Anecdotal evidence suggests that some ladies are no longer participating in handicap match-play competitions for fear of losing heavily when having to concede more than one stroke a hole. They do not believe that they have a chance of winning.
The SLGA has taken up the suggestion from one of the participants at the seminars to conduct its own survey based on ladies’ match-play events.
All affiliated clubs were offered the opportunity to participate by sending the results of their match-play knock-out competitions to the SLGA at the end of the 2008 season. Clubs were asked to ensure that the players’ handicaps were noted at all rounds of the competitions and the margin of victory was recorded.
Competitions were required to have a minimum of four entrants and must have been based on full handicap difference between the players. No capping of handicap was permitted.
Results
A total of 42 clubs (including three from Northern Ireland) participated in the survey; 73 different knock-out competitions were covered as some clubs held more than one event. Any player who had entered the draw but did not play a match, conceding a walk-over in her first round, was excluded.
In total, 1,479 individual matches were played; of these 128 were walk-overs or were between players of the same handicap so no strokes were involved. This left a total of 1,351 matches involving strokes conceded/received in the survey.
Who are the overall winners of the trophies?
The average handicap of the winners was 17.7, compared with the average handicap of the entrants of 21.5.
The results show that the Category 3 players performed in line with their representation in the field.
Category 5 players rarely get to the finals although they win some of their earlier games. Category 4 players did win the trophies in substantial numbers albeit that they did not win quite in proportion to their representation in the field.
Category 2 players, on the other hand, punched well above their representation in the field. They represented 10% of the entrants but they won just over 27% of all of the competitions.
Who wins the individual matches?
Looking at all the matches that involved strokes being conceded or received, overall 59.1% of these matches were won by the lower-handicapped player who conceded strokes and 40.9% by the player with the higher handicap who received strokes.
With full handicap allowance the lower-handicapped player still has an overall advantage and can expect to win nearly 60% of her matches.
The results support the use of the full handicap allowance as opposed to the historic ¾ allowance that until recently was a traditional feature of match-play in GB&I – the other major golfing nations and handicap jurisdictions all use full difference for singles match-play.
Does course length have any affect?
There is a perception by some players that on some shorter courses the advantage lies with the
higher handicapped player but on the longer courses the advantage is with the lower handicapper. If that were so there would be a positive correlation between the percentage of games won by the lower-handicapped player in each competition with the yardage of the competition course.
The scatter diagram displayed (on the SLGA website) shows no such correlation.
Although the correlation is positive not negative it is so low that the conclusion to be drawn is that course length favours neither the higher nor lower-handicapped player.
Does the number of strokes influence whether the higher or lower handicapped player wins?
Whilst there is a greater chance of players conceding or receiving two strokes on holes in the
women’s game than in the men’s, the majority of handicap match-play ties involve fewer than 10 strokes – indeed the average number of strokes conceded/received per match in the survey was 8. Very few matches involved more than one stroke per hole.
Even when there is a large difference in the handicaps there is no obvious advantage to being either the receiver of strokes or the recipient – it is all a matter of performance on the day.
Who wins matches by large margins?
Whilst most match-play ties remain “live” until the last few holes or even into extra time, there are always some matches that are over relatively quickly even when strokes are involved. Analysis of the results showed that approximately 9% of the matches were won by large margins – ie results of 6&5 or larger; 71% of these matches were won by the lower handicapped player and only 29% by the higher handicapped.
Few of the matches involved a large number of strokes being conceded or received, again confirming that it is performance on the day that is critical.
The high percentage in favour of the lower-handicapped player does suggest, however, that the greater experience of the lower-handicapped player is brought to bear in such situations – they are able to close games out and apply the killer touch.
CONCLUSIONS
The purpose of the golf handicap, and specifically in GB&I, the CONGU® Handicap, is to enable
golfers of differing abilities to compete on a fair and equitable basis. It is the cornerstone of golf at club level. To fully meet the overall objective, 50% of matches would be won by the lower
handicapped player and 50% by the higher handicapped player.
The results of this survey show that:
• With full difference in handicap the lower handicapped player still retains an advantage – they
can expect to win almost 60% of the time; the move from the historic ¾ difference will have
helped the higher handicappers but the balance has not been tipped into their favour.
•The high handicapped, Category 5 players, find it very difficult to progress to the latter stages
of a match-play event and these players under-perform relative to their representation in the
field as a whole. In addition, they seem reluctant to play in these events in the first place. Their representation in the events is significantly lower than their representation in the body of
lady golfers. This is something that club committees may wish to consider when trying to
encourage such players to participate.
At clubs with a large ladies’ playing membership the introduction of match-play competitions specifically for say the Bronze Division may encourage more to play if they feel they have a better chance of progressing in the event.
• Although some low handicapped players – usually single figure players – still yearn for the days of ¾ difference, some to the extent that they no longer play in handicap match-play events, the survey shows that there is no justification for this view.
Acknowledgements:
The SLGA would like to thank the ladies of the following clubs for participating in this survey: Alyth, Ballumbie Castle, Bearsden, Blairgowrie, Brora, Callander, Canmore, Cathkin Braes, Cawder, Cowglen, Crail, Cruden Bay, Duff House Royal, East Kilbride, Eastwood, Forfar, Forres, Gifford, The Glen, Gullane, Kirkcudbright, Kelso, Kilmacolm, Kilspindie, Lanark, Largs, Liberton, Lockerbie, McDonald Ellon, Merchants of Edinburgh, Panmure, Powfoot, Renfrew, Royal Dornoch, Prestwick St Nicholas, Scotscraig, Taymouth Castle, Troon Wellbeck, Turnberry and from Northern Ireland: Balmoral, Massereene and Royal County Down.
© Copyright 2009 The Scottish Ladies’ Golfing Association Limited. All rights reserved
Not to be reproduced by any means whatsoever without prior permission

Scotland's top female amateur golfers on parade at the Army assault course. You can enlarge the image by clicking on it.

SLGA National Squad tackle Army

assault course at Carnoustie

PRESS RELEASE

Scotland’s most promising female amateur golfers accomplished their latest mission recently by completing a demanding assault course.

Players from the National Squad took on the Army challenge as part of a team-building exercise at the Army Training Centre, Barry Buddon at Carnoustie.

Team members scrambled over nets, swung by rope over ditches and negotiated difficult hurdles in an exercise designed to build valuable self confidence, develop competitive instinct, and promote good teamwork ethic and hone the determination to succeed.

Kevin Craggs, pictured right by Cal Carson Golf Agency, the Scottish Ladies Golfing Association's national coach said:

“This has been a very valuable exercise and something which we will definitely do again. Our training is not just about hitting balls from a driving range. We are looking at improving on all aspects of our golfers' lives, from diet and positive thinking to fitness and media awareness.

“These golfers are some of the best amateur players in Scotland and we aim, through challenges such as this, to build an unbreakable team spirit and mentally and physically strong sportswomen who can really make an impact in the world of golf.”

Catriona Matthew matches Singapore

par 0f 72 in HSBC tournament

Americans Paula Creamer and Jane Park and Brazil's Angela Park shared the lead on five-under-ar 67 at the end of the first round of the $2 million HSBC Women's Champions at Tana Merah Country Club, Garden Course, Changi in Singapore.
Lorena Ochoa, the defending champion and world No. 1 ranked player, is joint sixth on 69.

Catriona Matthew, expecting her second child and a winner in Brazil earlier this year, is on the par-72 mark, two ahead of fellow-Scot Janice Moodie.

Laura Davies' worrying slump in form continues. She had a nine-over-par 81.
FIRST-ROUND SCOREBOARD
Par 72
67 Paula Creamer, Jane Park, Angela Park (Bra)
68 Seon Hwa Lee (Kor), Ai Miyazato (Jpn)
69 Se Ri Pak (Kor), Eun Hee Ji (Kor), Lorena Ochoa (Mex), Angela Stanford, Gwladys Nocera (Fra)
70 Heather Young, Natalie Gulbis, Michele Redman, Shanshan Feng (Chn), Katherine Hull (Aus)
71 Il Mi Chung (Kor), Sun Young Yoo (Kor), In Kyung Kim (Kor), Brittany Lang, Ji-Young Oh (Kor), Louise Friberg (Swe), Mi-Hyun Kim (Kor), Momoko Ueda (Jpn), Carin Koch (Swe)
72 Juli Inkster, Meena Lee (Kor), Katie Futcher, Ya-Ni Tseng (Kor), Ji-Yai Shin (Kor), Jimin Kang (Kor), Hee Young Park (Kor), H J Choi (Kor), Lindsey Wright (Aus), Catriona Matthew (Sco), Song-Hee Kim (Kor), Kristy McPherson, Suzann Pettersen (Nor), Russy Gulyanamitta (Tha), Shiho Oyama (Jpn), Teresa Lu (Tai), Alena Sharp (Can), Sophie Gustafson (Swe)
73 Minea Blomqvist (Fin), Stacy Prammanasudh, Anja Monke (Ger), Karen Stupples (Eng), Morgan Pressel, Hee-Won Han (Kor), Amy Yang, Cristie Kerr, Wendy Ward, Ji-Hee Lee (Jpn), Christina Kim, Sandra Gal (Ger), Leta Lindley, Jee Young Lee (Kor)
74 Na Yeon Choi (Kor), Karrie Webb (Aus), In-Bee Park (Kor), Candie Kung (Tai), Janice Moodie (Sco)
75 Pornanong Phatlum (Tha), Laura Diaz
76 Young Kim (Kor), Jin Joo Hong (Kor), Pat Hurst
77 Giulia Sergas (Ita), Rachel Hetherington (Aus), Nicole Castrale, Helen Alfredsson (Swe)
78 Poh Joey (Sin)
79 Vicky Hurst, Becky Morgan (Wal)
80 Ashleigh Simon (Rsa)
81 Laura Davies (Eng), Diana D'Alessio
82 Allison Fouch, Jill McGill

Phil Mickelson's brother has words of

encouragement for Euan Brown

By COLIN FARQUHARSON

It's not widely known by boys - and girls - who want to go to the States and play on the college golf circuit over there that selection for the team of five (usually) for any particular event is not a foregone conclusion. Most of the colleges have in-house qualifying events to see who is in good enough form to be selected for the next tournament.

Take the case of Euan Brown from Troon, pictured right. He plays Division 1 college golf with Saint Mary's College of California - when he is selected.

Euan has just played in the Bay Area shoot-out event, where all players from the six schools involved played as individuals only, to start the spring college golf season.

I'm sure Euan won't mind me saying so - from a distance of several thousand miles - that he has struggled a bit with his form recently but he did show some signs of improvement - tied 18th in a field of 41 with rounds of 73 (which was only one off the first-round lead) and 81 for 154 - in the shoot-out as he tries to make the Saint Mary's team for the next event in San Diego.

Euan had only one Saint Mary's player ahead of him in the final standings so that must count for something.

By the way, Euan played with the winning boy from San Diego University, Alex Ching with a pair of 72s, and enjoyed the company of the SDU coach Tim Mickelson, Phil's brother.

Euan says that Tim Mickelson was very encouraging towards him throughout and a really 'cool guy' which is nice to hear about an opponent's coach.
Just returning to that theme about having to earn a place in a college golf team, that is one of the things to be considered by young men and girls if they are lucky or good enough to have a choice.

Do they go to the "biggest" college golf team that wants them and face strong opposition for places in the tournament line-up?

Or do they go to a "lesser" college team where the general standard of player might not be so high and, therefore, it would be easier to gain a regular place the line-up?

Junior Solheim Cup team qualifying

points system favours Continentals

It looks as the leading Scottish, English, Welsh and Irish Under-18 girls will have to rely on getting one of the six wild-card picks open to team captain Carin Koch if they are to make the European team of 12 for the Ping Junior Solheim Cup match at Aurora Country Club, Aurora, Illinois on August 18 and 19.
There are four tournaments being used as qualifying points events:
1 The Spanish women's open amateur championship, which was played last weekend.
2 The French Under-21 girls' open amateur championship at Paris St Cloud from April 9 to 13.
3 The European girls' team championship at a Finland venue from July 7 to 11.
4 The European women's team championship at a Slovenia venue from July 7 to 11.
AUTOMATIC SELECTION FOR LEADING SIX
The leading six players on the points table on July 13 will be automatically selected to the team. The six others will be selected by European team captain Koch. Nancy Lopez will be the United States captain for the Junior Solheim Cup match which will consist of six four-ball ties, six foursomes ties and 12 singles.
The age parameters are no younger than 12 years and under 18 years on January 1, 2009.
Here are the Ping Junior Solheim Cup selection points earned in the "Spanish:"
1 Rosanna Crepiat, France - 60 points
2 Johanna Tillström, Sweden - 40 points
2 Emilie Alonso, France - 40 points
4 Ana Fernandez de Mesa, Spain - 35 points
5 Mandy Goyos Ball, Spain - 20 points
6 Sophia Popov, Germany - 5 points

Leading Independent schools golfers

at Archerfield, Craigielaw next week

The leading Independent schools from the United Kingdom will compete for the International Trophy at Archerfield Links and Craigielaw next week.
Schools qualified from Independent Schools Golf Association events are:
Scotland - Loretto
England - Millfield
Wales - Monmouth
Ireland - Campbell College
Six players from each country will compete for the individual trophy for each country and the International Trophy will be awarded to the winning team (best four from six gross).
The scratch stroke-play event's schedule is:

Monday, March 9
Renaissance Golf Club, Archerfield Links, East Lothian
10.30am tee-off.
Tuesday, March 10
Craigielaw Golf Club, Aberlady, East Lothian
9.30am tee-off

David Quin, chairman of the Independent Schools Golf Association, writes:

The following players are competing

Millfield School for England
Sam Parsons (captain)
Alex Quin
Ben Taylor
Luke Krupa
Harrison Greenberry
Lewis Casserley

Monmouth School for Wales
Liam McVeigh
Brad Davies
Joe Park
Jon Denning
James Furnell
Alex Townshend

Campbell College for Ireland
Aaron Darragh
James Rodgers
Patrick Thompson
Stuart Bleakley
Jamie West
Chris Best

Loretto School for Scotland
Philip Buckendorf
George Mundsay
+Others to be picked

Schools qualified for the Home Internationals through the ISGA Schools match-play tournament in which over 120 schools from all over the UK competed

Relevant websites for more information:
http://www.isga.org.uk/
http://www.collegegolf.co.uk/
http://www.junioropengolf.com/

Michele makes competitive professional debut

Scottish women's amateur champion Michele Thomson (McDonald Ellon) made her competitive debut as a Ladies European Tour rookie professional in today's North-east Alliance competition at Fraserburgh.
Read how she fared by logging on to www.scottishgolfview.com

Samantha (69) lying

second in Florida

Ascot's Samantha Head, pictured right, posted a three-under-par 69 in the first round of this week's SunCoast Ladies Series in Florida - but that was good enough only to tie her for second place, one shot behind Benedikte Grotvedt from Norway at Zellwood Station Golf Club.

ALL THE FIRST-ROUND SCORES
Par 72. 6,100yd
1 Benedikte GROTVEDT Nesbru, Norway 34-34--68
2 Samantha HEAD Ascot, England 36-33--69
2 M J HUR South Korea 36-33--69
4 Meredith DUNCAN Shreveport, Louisiana 37-33--70
4 Jeehae LEE South Korea 33-37--70
6 Jutta DEGERMAN Kauniainen, Finland 37-35--72
7 Brittany LINCICOME Seminole, Florida 36-37--73
8 Briana VEGA Andover, Maryland 39-35--74
8 Misun CHO Seoul, South Korea 37-37--74
8 Margaret SHIRLEY Roswell, Georgia 39-35--74
11 Erin THORNE Bracebridge, Canada 36-39--75
11 Katie MILLER Jeanette, Pennsylvania 40-35--75
11 Lisa STROM North Wales, Pennsylvania 38-37--75
11 Noriko NAKAZAKI Hanover Park, Illinois 38-37--75
15 Jenny GLEASON Clearwater, Florida 40-36--76
15 Noon HUACHAI Bangkok, Thailand 37-39--76
15 Moira DUNN Utica, New York State 38-38--76
18 Sofie ANDERSSON Angelholm, Sweden 39-38--77
18 Susan CHOI Natick, Maryland 36-41--77
18 Kristin TAMULIS Naples, Floria 39-38--77
21 Jennifer HANSEN Cairo, New England 37-41--78
21 Kim WILLIAMS Bethesda, Maryland 41-37--78
21 Stacey BIEBER Winnipeg, Canada 37-41--78
24 Tiffany CHUDY Miramar, Florida 40-39--79
24 Nicola EATON Port Shepstone, South Africa 41-38--79
24 Mayura Skowronski (amateur) Bangkok, Thailand 38-41--79
27 Kelly FROELICH Paris, France 40-40--80
28 Maggie STECIUK London, Ontario 42-39--81
28 Laura BAVAIRD Grosse ILE, Michigan 40-41--81
28 Anna GREEN Fort Pierce, Florida 43-38--81
28 Brittainy KLEIN Henderson, Kentucky 41-40--81
28 Alina Lee (amateur) Athens, Georgia 41-40--81
33 Rebecca SAMUELSSON Gothenburg, Sweden 42-40--82
33 Meghan TRAINOR Charlotte, North Carolina 42-40--82
33 Carrie MORRIS Tyler, Texas 40-42--81
36 Mari SUURSALU Tallin, Estonia 41-42--83
36 Daniela DIAZ-CALDERON Guadalajara, Mexico 44-39--83
38 Cassandra BLANEY Championsgate, Florida 45-39--84
38 Daria Cummings (amateur) Monroe, Connecticutt 42-42--84
40 Monique THORESZ Yonkers, New York State 43-44--87
41 Jackie GONZALEZ Valencia, Venezuela 43-45--88

Katy McNicoll makes top 10 in Lady Moc Classic

Carnoustie's Katy McNicoll, a student at Lynn University, Boca Raton in Florida, finished joint 10th in a field of 86 players for the Lady Moc Classic at Eaglebrook, Lakeland, Florida.
Katy had rounds of 79, 74 and 81 for a total of 234 over the par-72, 6,255yd couorse.
She finished 16 strokes behind the five-shot winner, Joanna Coe (Rollins College) with 77, 70 and 71 for 218.
The Lynn University team (942) finished fourth in the team event behind Rollins College (929), Florida Southern and Nova Southeastern (both 931) in a field of 16 teams.

Consistent Chris Paisley ties for

eighth place in Braveheart Classic

Walker Cup team candidate Chris Paisley (Tennessee University) from Newcastle finished joint eighth in a field of 104 for the Braveheart Classic men's college tournament at Oak Valley Golf Club, Beaumont, California.

Over a longish course of 7,003yd (par-72), Chris, pictured above, scored very consistently - three rounds of 73 - for a total of three-over-par 219 - four shots behind the two-stroke winner, Nate Page (Southern Utah) with scores of 74, 72 and 68.

Alex Hogben (Missouri-Kansas City) came joint 22nd with scores of 74, 73 and76 for 223.

Darren Renwick (Tennessee) finished joint 31st with scores of 75, 74 and 76 for 225.

Oregon (875) won the team event ahead of Southern Utah (882), Arizona (883), California Poly and Loyola Marymount (both 887), Tennessee (889) and Missouri-Kansas City (892) in a field of 18 teams.

Davis & Elkins coach is coming talent-

spotting at Scottish boys championship

Scott Goddard, the Dean of Students and golf coach at Davis & Elkins College, West Virgina, is coming over to Aberdeen in early April to talent spot at the Scottish boys' match-play championship over the Royal Aberdeen Golf Club's Balgownie links.
From the evidence of their first tournament after the mid-winter break, Scott is certainly in need of fresh talent for his squad who hit rock bottom in the Panther Invite men's college tournament at Palm Bay, Florida this week.
Even allowing for bad weather for the 54-hole competition over a par-72, 6918yd, the scoring was poor.
Glasgow's Alasdair Forsythe was the best player in the Davis & Elkins squad, finishing 52nd in a field of 62 with a 44-over-par total of 260, made up of rounds of 88, 81 and 91.
Davis & Elkins were not even able to gain a final placing in the team event, won by Barry (925) ahead of Brevard CC (926), as one of their players, who did not break a hundred in either the first or third rounds had a No Return in the second round.
In fairness to Forsythe, even the winner of the event, Sam Wall (Brevard CC) finished 10 over par with a total of 226, scoring 80, 73 and 73. He won by a shot from Tyler Fox, also Brevard CC, who scored 78, 76 and 73.

Clara Leathers top Brit in

Lady Jaguar Invitational

Clara Leathers (Middle Tennessee State University) from Aylesbury, Buckinghamshire, finished the highest of the four British students competing in the Lady Jaguar Invitational women's college tournament at Azalea City Golf Club, Mobile in Alabama,
A junior (third-year) student at the Murfreesboro, Tennessee college, Clara, pictured right, had rounds of 77, 81 and 76 over the par-72, 6071yd course for a total of 234, which earned her joint 19th place in a field of 83 players.
Belfast's Shirley Harvey (South Alabama) scored 78, 80 and 78 for 236 and a share of 24th place. Portia Abbot (Jacksonville State) from Wiltshire finished 26th on 237, made up on scores of 81, 73 and 83 (that middle round was one of the best of the tournament, by the way).
Portia's team-mate Laura Cutler from Essex scored 81, 79 and 82 for 242 and a share of 35th place.
Florida International University dominated the leading individual and team totals.
Cristina Martin and Monica Miller - both Florida International - finished first and second respectively with totals of one-over-par 217 and 222. Cristina scored 73, 74 and 70, Monica had rounds of 73, 74 and 75.
Florida International (895) won the team event easily from Samford (918), South Alabama (925), Lamar (935), Middle Tennessee State (936) and Jacksonville State (947) in a field of 16 teams.

Andrea Downer finishes third and

helps Murray State win title

Andrea Downer from Guildford, Surrey, a junior (third-year) student at Murray State University, finished third of 42 players in a high-scoring NewWave Communications women's college tournament at Miller Memorial Golf Club, Murray in Kentucky.

The weather must have been pretty awful for the 36-hole event as even the winner, Andrea's team-mate Joyce Trus was 10-over-par with rounds of 78 and 76 for 154 at the 6,017yd, par-72 course.

Megan Bradford (Tennessee Tech) was runner-up on 158 with scores of 77 and 81 and Andrea Downer, pictured above, came third on 162 with rounds of 79 and 83.

Andrea, who will celebrate her 22nd birthday on April 26, helped Murray State win the team event by 15 shots from Tennessee Tech with a total of 647. Nine teams took part.

Gloucestershire’s Clare Hall celebrates 100th birthday

PRESS RELEASE ISSUED BY ENGLISH WOMEN'S GOLF ASSOCIATION
Congratulations to Gloucestershire golfer Clare Hall who celebrated her 100th birthday yesterday. Clare, who likes to play twice a week, marked the occasion with a weekend village party and a lunch party with close friends on the day itself.

On Thursday there will be more partying when the ladies of Cirencester Golf Club hold a grand celebration for their centenarian. It will include a competition, a lunch and a reception in honour of their oldest member.

And they’d love to know if Clare is the oldest lady golfer playing in England. Clare took up golf when she was 20 and held a single figure handicap before World War II. She joined Cirencester in 1960 and was ladies’ captain in 1980.

“She’s incredible,” said ladies’ captain Venetia Champniss. “Clare tries to play a couple of times a week and she goes out in weather when we wouldn’t! In the summer she plays all the competitions and everyone enjoys playing with her.”

Clare, who has a handicap of 34, has had to take an enforced break from golf after a fall at her home – but it won’t be for long. “She’s determined to get back to playing and hell or high water won’t stop her,” said Venetia.

There are many golfing stories about Clare. She walked around the course until about eight years ago, when she opted for a ride-on buggy. When she was about 80 she was rather cross that she was no longer in the Silver Division – so she went out in the hot midsummer and successfully marked a card to cut her handicap.

Then, just two years ago she bought a new set of woods, having seen her colleagues enjoying the new technology. She admits they have given her a little more length!

Clare has an all-round enjoyment of golf and paired up with fellow Cirencester member, Norma Franklin, to make several journeys into rough to look for, and make an inventory of, local wild flowers found on their golf course. They found about 80 different types.

News from the United States women's college circuit

Portia Abbott lying seventh in Lady

Jaguar Invitational at Mobile

Portia Abbott (Jacksonville State University) from Wiltshire and Clara Leathers (Middle Tennessee University) from Aylesbury were lying joint seventh and 22nd respectively after the first two rounds of the 54-hole Lady Jaguar Invitational women's college tournament at Azalea City Golf Club, Mobile in Alabama.
Over a 6,071yd course with a par of 72, Portia had rounds of 81 and 73 for 154 - seven shots behind the joint leaders, Cristina Martin (Florida International) (73-74) and Monica Miller (Florida Institute) (73-74).
Clare scored 77 and 81 for 158, the same total ast Belfast's Shirley Harvey (South Alabama University) with scores of 78 and 80.
Laura Cutler (Jacksonville State University) from Essex was tied for 30th place in a field of 83 with scores of 81 and 79 for 160.

Andrea Downer sharing fourth place in Kentucky

Andrea Downer (Murray State University) from Surrey was sharing fourth place in a field of 48 after the first round of the New Wave Communications Classic women's college tournament in cold and windy conditions at the Miller Memorial course, Murray in Kentucky. It has a par of 72 and measures 6017yd.
Andrea scored 79 (40-39) to be two shots behind leader Megan Bradford (Tennessee Tech) (37-40).
Murray State share the team lead on 329 with Tennessee Tech, only a shot ahead of Austin Peay State University.

EWGA AND EGU BEGIN MERGER TALKS

PRESS RELEASE ISSUED BY ENGLISH WOMEN'S GOLF ASSOCIATION
Representatives of the English Women’s Golf Association and the English Golf Union have met to re-open talks on the possibility of merger between the two organisations.
It was agreed at the meeting held at The Belfry on Friday, February 27 to explore the proposal in more detail. A series of steering group sessions is being scheduled over the next few months and working groups made up of staff and officials will be set up to look at particular aspects of the merger including finance, governance and communications issues.
It is anticipated that county representatives from both organisations will be briefed on progress at the end of June.
Sue Whittaker, chairman of the EWGA management board said: “The initial meeting went well and provided an excellent opportunity for the two organisations to exchange views in an informal setting.”
Nigel Evans, chairman of the EGU board, said: “The meeting was positive and allowed both organisations to highlight the numerous areas that need to be considered. I look forward to taking the discussions to the next stage.”
The EGU has about 740,000 members in over 1900 golf clubs, while the EWGA represents around 120,000 women and girl members in more than 1780 golf clubs. -

Editor's note: For one reason or another, we missed out the Rio Pinar Invitational men's college tournament results from our service last week. Perhaps GolfStat did not put up the final totals at the time. Here they are now:

David Addison joint 75th

in Rio Pinar Invitational

David Addison, a student at the University of Akron, Ohio, finished joint 75th in a field of 108 players at the Rio Pinar Invitational over a par-72, 6978yd course at Rio Pinar Country Club, Orlando, Floriday.

David, pictured right, a winner on the SGU Order of Merit circuit in the past, had scores of 77, 75 and 76 for 228. David now entering his last few months of his four years at Akron.

Welshman Mark Trow from Oswestry, a student at Memphis University, shared 46th place with scores of 76, 69 and78 for 223.

England's Jack Hiluta (South Alabama) shared 64th place on 226 with scores of 80, 75 and 71. Blayne Barber (Central Florida) won the individual honours by two shots with a 12-under-par total of 204, made up onf scores of 71, 64 and 69.

It was a double whammy for Central Florida as they won the team title too by 14 shots with a total of 851.

Texas-Arlington were runners-up with 865 and Louisville - for whom Aberdeenshire student Lewis Kirton did not get a game - finished third on 870. Akron (907) came 20th of 21 so the Akron golf coach had not been a happy chappie.

LEADING FINAL TOTALS

Par 216 (3 x 72) 6978yd

204 Blayne Barber (Central Florida) 71 64 69.

206 Bobby Massa (Texas-Arlington) 70 69 67.

Selected scores:

223 Mark Trow (Memphis) 76 69 78 (jt 46th).

226 Jack Hiluta (South Alabama) 80 75 71 (jt 64th).

228 David Addison (Akron) 77 75 76 (jt 75th).

Field of 108 players.

Paul Ferrier's first college

tournament of 2009 is

cancelled because of rain

By COLIN FARQUHARSON
One thing that baffles me about the American college circuit - men's and women's - is that with places like California, Arizona and Florida where venues are playable all the year round, there is a mid-winter break of at least two months, more like three months for some colleges, when NO college tournaments are played.
Maybe somebody can give me the answer sometime.
What brought it to mind was a message today from Iain Ferrier, whose son Paul won the 2007 Scottish boys' match-play championship at Dunbar.
Iain wrote:
"Paul was due to play his first tournament of the spring today and tomorrow - the Lonnie D Small Classic - but unfortunately it has been rained off! His next one is the Southern Highlands Collegiate from March 13 to 15, assuming he is still in the team!"
But Iain did send Kirkwoodgolf.co.uk a couple of new action pictures of Paul, sent to him by the University of Charlotte golf coach. I've published one of them with this article.
Thanks, Iain.

Stewart and Findlay down the

field at Puerto Rico Classic

Scottish boys champion Michael Stewart from Troon and Fraserburgh's Jordan Findlay, both students at East Tennessee State University, Johnson City, finished joint 57th and 67th respectively in a field of 75 players for the Puerto Rico Classic men's college golf tournament.
In temperatures in the 80s at San Juan, Stewart (pictured right) scored 74, 72 and 79 for nine-over-par 225 while Findlay had rounds of 75, 78 and 77 for 230.
Hudson Swafford (Georgia) and Dylan Fritelli (Texas) were joint winners on 12-under-par 204.
East Tennessee State came ninth of 15th in the team event won by Georgia.

LEADING FINAL TOTALS

Par 216 (3 x 72). 6900yd

204 Hudson Swafford (Georgia) 70 67 67, Dylan Fritelli (Texas) 67 64 73.

206 Russell Henley (Georgia) 72 67 67, Brian Harman (Georgia) 69 71 66, Ben Martin (Clemson) 71 69 66.

Selected scores:

215 Seamus Power (East Tennessee State) 77 70 68 (20th).

218 Rhys Enoch (East Tennessee State) 71 74 73 (jt 30th).

223 Paul O'Kane (East Tennessee State) 77 75 71 (jt 52nd).

225 Michael Stewart (East Tennessee State) 74 72 79 (jt 57th).

230 Jordan Findlay (East Tennessee State) 75 78 77 (67th).

Field of 75 players.

LEADING TEAM TOTALS

826 Georgia. 838 Clemson. 848 Oklahoma State. 853 Texas.

Selected team total:

877 East Tennessee State (9th of 15).

Meanwhile, in the Red Rocks Invitation women's college tournament at Oak Creek Country Club, Sedona in Arizona, Jacqueline Sneddon from Meigle, a student at Grand Canyon University, had a pair of 85s for a total of 170, finishing joint 67th in a field of 106 behind the three-shot winner, Kelly Gillum (Montana State) with 75 and 73 for 148.
Michigan won the team event with a total of 602, 12 shots ahead of runners-up Oral Roberts. Grand Canyon came 14th of 17 with 678.

Renfewshire celebrate their centenary

From R TO L: Wilma Leburn (nee Aitken), Eilleen Gibb, Nan Blair (nee Menzies), Donna Jackson, Aileen Wilson, Dorothea Hastings (nee Sommerville), Clare- Marie Carlton, Heather Anderson and Megan Briggs --(Click to enlarge)

Carol Fell, Renfrewshire webmaster, writes:-

Renfrewshire County held their Centenary Dinner at The Glynhill Hotel -- Renfrew on Thursday 26th February 2009.
114 members attended the Centenary Celebration evening including 11 Past Champions (pictured above)
Christeen Finlayson (County Captain of Renfrewshire)welcomed everyone to the evening with a champagne reception and was in sparkling form as the host.

Dr Nan Blair (nee Menzies)- Ranfurly Castle cut the cake.

Heather Anderson(Caldwell) proposed the toast to the County.

Vice Captain Trish Brown (Kilmacolm) said grace before the dinner and Ruth Henderson(Williamwood)narrated a very humourous historical ditty.

The guest speaker was Linda Ormiston OBE .

From L to R: Nora McCrossan (Ayrshire), Christeen Finlayson (Renfrewshire), Kay McCall (D&A) and May Hughes (Lanarkshire) --- West of Scotland County Captains - click to enlarge


Want to see an some pictures from the evening's event then Click here ---

They are not in any specific order plus you may wish to make yourself a cup of coffeee or tea and sit back --- there are a few !!

Here is a bit of video from the RLCGA Centenary Dinner with Heather Anderson proposing the toast and Nan Blair (nee Menzies) -- past (County Champion and Scottish Internationalist )cutting the Centenary Cake --- The longest serving members at the County Dinner

A terrific evening was had by all

Portuguese title winner Crepiat runner-up at Las Palmas

France's Lucie Andre wins Spanish

championship with 5 & 4 final win

Lucie Andre, the No 3 seed, beat Rosanna Crepiat, 21st of the 32 qualifiers for the match-play stages, by 5 and 4 in today's 18-hole final of the Spanish women's open amateur championship for the Queen's Cup at Las Palmas, Gran Canaria in the Canary Islands.
France provided three of the four semi-finalists. Rosanna (left) and Lucie (right) are pictured right after the presentation ceremony.
In the Portuguese women's open amateur championship at the start of February, Rosanna Crepiat won the fog-abbreviated stroke-play championship with a 54-hole total of 217. Lucie Andrew was second with 218. Now, in a match-play format, the positions have been reversed.
But it reflects well on French women's/girls' golf, that they have proved the 1-2 in the Portuguese and now the Spanish women's championships.
Lucie Andre is a member of Mionnay La Dombes Golf Club at the town/city of Mionnay, about 20 kilometres from Lyon.
Rosanna Crepiat is a member of Marseille La Salette Golf Club in the Provence, one of the most beautiful countrysides in France.

Lorena Ochoa shows her class with 25th

career title win in LPGA Thailand

After three rounds to shake off the close-season "rust," Lorena Ochoa took only five holes of the final round to take what proved to be a winning lead in the Honda LPGA Thailand tournament today.
It was the Mexican ace's 25th career title and the second year in a row she has won on her first competitive outing ot the season.
She pulled away over the final round to win by three strokes from South Korean Hee Young Park.
Ochoa, three strokes behind playing partner Paula Creamer at the start of the round, shot a six-under 66 in overcast conditions that took the edge off the heat on the Siam Country Club's Plantation Course.
"It's been a great week," Ochoa said. "My goal was to win the tournament and here I am with the trophy. I'm pleased. I played exceptionally well."
Ochoa finished at 14-under 274 -- shooting 71-69-68 the first three days -- and earned $217,500 for her second straight season-opening victory. Last year, she opened with a victory in Singapore in the HSBC Women's Champions and went on to win five of her first six events. She will be in Singapore next week for her title defense.
"This is a good preparation for next week, as the course is pretty much the same," Ochoa said. "I will take a rest and will be ready to defend my title on Thursday."
South Korea's Hee Young Park shot a 65 to finish a career-high second. The third-ranked Creamer had a 73, leaving her four strokes back at 10 under.
"I started on the wrong foot. It wasn't my day," Creamer said. "Lorena played awesome. ... It would have been difficult for me even if I had played better."
Stacy Prammanasudh, an American who has a Thai father, shot a course-record 63 to tie for fourth with Brittany Lang (73) at 7 under.
"It was unexpected for me as it was for everybody else," Prammanasudh said. "It was just one of those days that you putt the ball and they all go in."
Ochoa wiped out Creamer's three-shot lead in three holes, picking up two strokes on the par-5 second with a birdie and Creamer's bogey, and pulling even when Creamer dropped another stroke on the par-3 third.
Ochoa took the outright lead at 10 under on No. 5, added a birdie on the par-5 sixth and pulled away with birdies on the par-3 eighth and par-5 11th and 13th. She bogeyed the par-3 16th, got the stroke back with a birdie on 17 and parred 18.
Park, winless in 22 events last year as a rookie, played the first four holes in 4 under, birdieing Nos. 2 and 3 and eagling the par-4 fifth.
She overcame an opening 79 with rounds of 64 and 69.
"I felt sick on the first day," Park said. "I had to be vaccinated at the hospital."
Mika Miyazato (70) was sixth at 6 under, and Yani Tseng (68), Helen Alfredsson (70), Angela Stanford (71) and Sophie Gustafson (70) followed at 5 under in the event that attracted a tournament-record 16,500 fans Sunday. Stanford won the season-opening SBS Open two weeks ago in Hawaii and has three victories in her last eight starts. FINAL TOTALS
Par 288 (4 x 72) 6477yd
1. Lorena Ochoa $217,500 71-69-68-66--274
2. Hee Young Park 139,852 79-64-69-65--277
3. Paula Creamer 101,453 68-70-67-73--278
4. Stacy Prammanasudh 70,826 75-70-73-63--281
4. Brittany Lang 70,826 68-69-71-73--281
6. Mika Miyazato 51,684 73-67-72-70--282
7. Yani Tseng 36,561 70-71-74-68--283
7. Helen Alfredsson 36,561 68-72-73-70--283
7. Angela Stanford 36,561 68-71-73-71--283
7. Sophie Gustafson 36,561 70-73-70-70--283
11. Sun Young Yoo 27,756 74-70-72-68--284
11. Teresa Lu 27,756 72-69-72-71--284
13. Jiyai Shin 24,349 75-69-71-70--285
13. Na Yeon Choi 24,349 73-72-70-70--285
15. Juli Inkster 20,521 71-75-71-69--286
15. Nicole Castrale 20,521 69-74-73-70--286
15. Eun-Hee Ji 20,521 73-67-75-71--286
15. Karen Stupples (England) $20,521 72-71-71-72--286
19. Jee Young Lee 17,611 73-72-72-70--287
19. Cristie Kerr 17,611 74-70-70-73--287
19. Karrie Webb 17,611 71-71-69-76--287
22. Shanshan Feng 15,486 76-70-75-67--288
22. Lindsey Wright 15,486 74-74-70-70--288
22. Ai Miyazato 15,486 71-70-74-73--288
22. Morgan Pressel 15,486 70-68-76-74--288
26. Natalie Gulbis 13,821 71-71-74-73--289
26. Laura Diaz 13,821 73-68-72-76--289
28. Minea Blomqvist 12,037 73-68-79-70--290
28. Melissa Reid (England) $12,037 74-75-71-70--290
28. Jane Park 12,037 72-71-76-71--290
28. Angela Park 12,037 76-73-70-71--290
28. a-Moriya Jutanugarn 73-72-72-73--290
28. Kristy McPherson 12,037 68-72-76-74--290
34. Christina Kim 10,209 72-74-76-69--291
34. Mi Hyun Kim 10,209 71-74-75-71--291
34. Candie Kung 10,209 73-69-74-75--291
37. Maria Verchenova 9,035 76-75-71-70--292
37. Young Kim 9,035 71-74-76-71--292
37. Ji Young Oh 9,035 74-74-70-74--292
40. Katherine Hull 8,116 73-77-72-71--293
40. Jin Joo Hong 8,116 66-73-76-78--293
42. Suzann Pettersen 7,198 77-73-72-72--294
42. In-Kyung Kim 7,198 71-76-74-73--294
42. Seon Hwa Lee 7,198 72-71-77-74--294
42. Meena Lee 7,198 74-72-73-75--294
46. Giulia Sergas 6,164 74-72-78-71--295
46. Song-Hee Kim 6,164 76-75-71-73--295
46. Hee-Won Han 6,164 70-73-76-76--295
46. Inbee Park 6,164 73-75-71-76--295
50. Shiho Oyama 5,475 75-72-75-74--296
50. Louise Friberg 5,475 75-71-68-82--296
52. Carin Koch 5,207 76-77-71-73--297
53. Se Ri Pak 4,977 73-77-76-74--300
53. Leta Lindley 4,977 71-75-76-78--300
55. Russy Gulyanamitta 4,747 77-72-77-76--302
56. Jimin Kang 4,518 79-71-77-76--303
56. Allison Fouch 4,518 73-75-77-78--303
58. Laura Davies (England) $4,288 76-75-81-72--304
59. T. Suwannapura (amateur) 74-79-77-75--305
60. Ashleigh Simon 4,135 73-76-79-81--309